“I won’t be able to see this mineral deposit whatsoever. It absorbs all light, to the point I can’t tell the difference between the exterior points of this deposit.” Gon took out his pickaxe, observing it at every angle.

  “In essence, I’ll be blindly hitting it away. So, what I’ll do is attack it at a steep angle, while striking the gap between the lantern’s light and the object’s shadow. That’s the point where its effects diminish the most.”

  Gon tried to recall how long he had taken to get to this point. He couldn’t take too long. At the very least, he needed to return back to the mines and contribute to the workload for the day. Those were the responsibilities of a foreman.

  The only reason Gon was willing to go on this detour was because he was confident he’d be able to do a day’s worth of work for the average miner here in a shorter period of time.

  Gon slammed his pickaxe towards the barrier of light and darkness.

  Instead, his pickaxe dug deep into the ground.

  “This means the effects of it swallowing up light is even bigger than its physical size. Then I’ll slowly go forth, until I hear a difference between the hardness and sound.” The 20 years of experience had finally come into play.

  The feedback of the sound. For example, a sharp clink when striking a hard material, or a crackle when damaging the rocks.

  The hardness of the material. Giving you the best option on how to break it apart.

  The angle of the pickaxe. There were more ways to strike a mineral deposit than simply head on. Depending on the angle, you could pry out material or cause a direct crack.

  Ensuring the right grip and a proper understanding of your body, such as using a stable stance and using your hips with each swing.

  And also, the power and efficiency behind each strike. Just using all of your strength was an amateur’s mistake. Letting the weight of the pickaxe do the work for you, or shortening your swing range to control the force, and even rotating the pickaxe so you don’t blunt a single angle of it.

  There were also two final aspects to consider. They were arguably also the most important of them all.

  Luck and instinct.

  And if there was anything Gon was proud of, it was the instinct he had honed throughout his life. Switching, combining and controlling all of these aspects were as natural as breathing to Gon. With all of this combined, alongside his experience in multiple categories of mines around Earth, he had long reached the apex as a miner.

  Well, Gon wouldn’t consider himself that. There were always new techniques and tricks of the trade he learnt.

  Gon knocked on the strange abyssal mineral deposit.

  There was a hollow echo. Which didn’t make sense. Because that meant there were empty gaps, rather than just minerals, in this deposit.

  But, that would likewise mean that the hardness of this material wasn’t high at all. In fact, it might even be as fragile as glass!

  It was like being able to punch a wall in American houses. The material they used for their houses back in Gon’s era was commonly gyprock or dry walls. But that saying wouldn’t make sense in Canada or Germany, which tended to have brick walls. The only thing you’d be breaking is your knuckles if you tried punching a wall there.

  This mineral deposit was the equivalent of an American house's walls!

  “Not good. I want to preserve as much of it as possible. In the worst case scenario, I can accidentally collapse the entire mineral deposit. I’ll have to slow down as much as I can, and try to figure out the perimeters where it meets the natural ground.”

  Using just his senses, Gon chiselled away at the corners of the otherworldly mineral with his pickaxe, even in the darkness. After almost an hour, he had managed to dig out almost a moat around this mineral, separating the normal ground with the strange mineral.

  “I need to preserve as much of it as possible. I’ll chisel away at it from the edges, until it’s loosened up. Otherwise, if I strike randomly, it might damage the mineral itself.” Gon continued to work in the dark, once more falling into the zone.

  Gon had to use everything in his arsenal, of his 20 years of experience, to conquer this mineral deposit.

  Dipping deeper in the ground, chiselling slowly around the dark mineral, and differentiating the sounds he heard from whether it cracked or chipped, Gon had to be careful.

  Until finally, he could sense the ore had been finally carved out as much as he could.

  All that was left was to pull it out.

  It was immensely cold to the touch, to the point Gon lost feelings in his fingers. He grabbed it at both sides, and gently pried it out.

  And the ore had been revealed.

  It was around the size of a watermelon. Gon brought it towards the lantern, but it still refused to be seen in the light.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  It had an almost marble like surface, and had no textures whatsoever.

  “I’ll observe it in the Inner World quickly.” With a thought, the ore disappeared.

  Your Mining Proficiency has increased.

  New Achievement! Otherworldly Mining.

  New gem discovered!

  Gon sat down, quickly returning to the Inner World.

  He stood in front of the altar, and willed the ore to appear in front of him.

  “It has properties of distorting light, cold to the touch, and surprisingly is incredibly fragile, almost like glass. Since it’s a gem, the altar might be able to understand it a bit more.

  The dark ore levitated in front of the altar, and it posed a question.

  Will you proceed to refine this ore into a gem? This process cannot be reversed.

  “There’s probably more nearby if I explore, so yeah, go for it.”

  The ore shed its exterior and what remained was a small black gem in the shape of an oval. Its surface was a smooth, glossy black and it had rough edges. Gon willed it to replace the Spiritual Jade piece of gem he had placed before.

  Now that it had gone through the process, Gon could see information on it that the System had compiled, from who knows where.

  Altar Storage Ability: Any Uncut or above gem stored within the altar is recorded and cannot be destroyed during refinement. If refinement is to fail, the gem will become temporarily unavailable and the host must wait for its restoration.

  Onyx Shadow (Uncut): A gem that contains the vestiges of shadows.

  Passive Ability: Onyx’s Cloak- The host becomes harder to detect in the dark.

  Active Ability: Blink- Able to traverse through shadows for a short distance. The distance and amount of times used is dependent on the host’s qi reserves.

  Find a suitable environment for the Onyx Shadow.

  Gon rubbed his chin, considering all aspects of this gem. “Hmmm… This is a lot more effective than the small piece of spiritual jade I placed. So for mystical gems that are capable of affecting the laws of the world, I’m able to exhibit a portion of that ability? At the very least, I can make use of this in general, if I want to go mine at night in the forest, or even the mountain range far ahead.”

  “What does it mean by suitable environment?”

  For the most part, Gon’s Inner World aside from the clouds and altar was barren. There was no environment to place the Onyx Shadow in.

  “Wait… how about within The Depths?” Gon made his way down below.

  Aside from the large corridor and ore wall, there wasn’t much else going on.

  He thought back to the environment of the Onyx Shadow in the first place. It was tucked away deep underground, in a hidden cave.

  “Hm, I could carve out a small hole in the wall, and form a hidden cave.” Gon mumbled under his breath. Not wanting to waste time, he brought out his pickaxe and struck the stone wall to the right. Rock chunks fell and after a few minutes a sizable hole was formed.

  “It’s nothing compared to where I found the gem but it’ll have to do.” Gon thought for a moment and the Onyx Shadow appeared within his hands. He carefully placed it into the hole and watched it merge with the darkness. It floated in the hole, absorbing the surrounding darkness like a small black hole.

  Congratulations on finding a suitable home for the gem.

  As the gem is currently recorded in the Mining Altar, it can still be used.

  “This is actually quite fun. I was right to be obstinate against the System for this, hah.”

  Impressed with the abilities he had as a unique miner, Gon now had a succinct plan in mind.

  To focus on improving his Blue Collar Physique through physical training.

  To absorb qi from mining extra spiritual jades.

  Then, to explore the Inner World as often as he could to properly absorb that qi, and build his Inner World.

  And to understand the functions of the Mining Altar and The Depths.

  Even as Gon unearthed the Onyx Shadow, the strange sensation in the cave still lingered.

  He made a mental note of the location, exiting the mines. With it, he made sure to map out the remaining routes in the mines with a pencil and paper, to give an update on the amount of timber supports they’d need.

  “I should also increase the height of the mines later on, so it's a bit more comfortable for us all. That can be a later project. I also need to improve the ventilation shafts, and get help for proper drainage so it doesn’t get messed up during heavy rain. The reason those timber supports rotted in the first place was because of water. I only have basic knowledge of all that, so I’ll need to figure that one out with the team.” Having walked out the mines, the sun began to drop. It was already late afternoon, and Gon even missed lunch.

  Hunger pangs came from his stomach, bringing everyone’s attention to the late comer.

  “You workaholic. Sure you’re on trial, but you can still come and eat. We still have plenty of leftovers, so come on over!” One of the workers said, waving over to Gon.

  Gon scratched the back of his head, before getting annoyed at how long and greasy his hair was.

  “Yeah, you look like a mole that’s been digging all day. Come get some fresh air.”

  Don’t tell me you went back to the graves. Did you start missing it?”

  “Oi Li Han, stop gawking and ease up. Sit down for a feed! The sect’s not gonna punish you for it.”

  The atmosphere of the mines had changed a lot in just a few days.

  Thinking back to the past, they all looked dead and hollow. Barely able to eat enough, working nonstop while struggling to fill the quota.

  Maybe it was because the Ethereal Life Sect held off on their quotas until the mines were fixed. Maybe it was just the change of diet, getting actual proper meat in large amounts to enjoy. Or maybe everyone faced a life and death situation, and learnt to appreciate the mundane.

  Gon didn’t consider it, but his change of personality and rise of passion had a domino effect on the rest. Seeing the weakest, scrawniest and depressed miner changing to being a better man and worker, it caused them all to at least try a bit more.

  Even in this hopeless world.

  The guard of the mines, Li Han, begrudgingly walked towards the miners, before being given a plate of food. He took a second, walking towards Gon. “Here. You look miserable, covered in all that dirt. I’ll allow it, as a disciple of the sect.”

  Grabbing the plate of food, Gon nudged Li Han with his elbow. “Cheeky huh. Don’t think you’re above this ex-disciple of the sect. I had the balls to talk back to her back then after all.”

  Sharing a few chuckles, they made their way to relax.

  “Oh right.” Gon remembered.

  “I heard we got a barber around here?”

  Compiling information…

  System has analysed the structure of the crimson moss.

  A biomass formed with the congealment of blood and muscle, when dripping through sediments and rocks. There are also signs of an incorporeal aspect; linked to the soul.

  Conjecture Finalised: It is a product from humans. A by-product of corpses when refined for specific cultivation methods.

  Risk to the host is relative to his ignorance of the situation.

  Potential to be involved in dangerous situations will increase.

  Therefore, host will be led out of the mines.

  Suggestion to inform the Host…

  Rejected.

  As thanks, I'll be uploading a bonus chapter tomorrow at the same time!

  I'm thinking I might even do daily uploads for a bit if I reach front page. I need you all to get to the juicy parts of the story.

  is now also 8 chapters ahead. Within a day, it'll be 10 chapters ahead. Eventually it'll increase to 25 chapters ahead, depending on milestones reached.

  If you're enjoying the story, I would really appreciate a and if you're feeling the mining burn like Gon is, an would be quite ore-some.